1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an on-vehicle information terminal and an information distribution system for vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
The applicant of the present invention previously submitted a patent application for a road traffic information distribution system through which road traffic information distributed through FM multiplex broadcasting or the like is received by an on-vehicle unit and also road traffic information for a specified target area to which a specific road traffic condition applies, is distributed to the on-vehicle unit from a distribution server via a mobile communication network such as a portable telephone network (see Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2007-80030).
An area where the traffic tends to congest readily, an area where the traffic congestion condition tends to vary greatly, an area where a traffic accident has occurred, an area where the traffic is congested more than usual, an area for which it is more difficult to provide accurate congestion projection or the like may be designated as the target area to which a specific road traffic condition applies in the road traffic information distribution system. An object of the present invention is to distribute information for various areas that may be related to the traffic congestion in addition to the types of areas listed above.